Chapter 25

221B 1/2 Baker Street, London

Basil and Dawson returned to London a little after midnight on the 4th of November. Basil never felt so happy to be home. However, he realized that his body was sore and he felt exhausted.

"Basil," Dawson said, feeling the detective's forehead. "You feel warm," the doctor adds.

"I just need sleep," Basil replies and heads off to bed. Once his head was on the pillow, he was out like a light.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Westfield College

Olivia was awakened by the first ray of sunshine. The sun was rising a little later than usual, but very soon it will be winter where the sun will have less time in the sky. Olivia didn't like winter, but she enjoyed the Christmas festivities. She was a bit curious of how Basil and his family celebrate Christmas.

The students were preparing themselves for final exams, which would begin at the last half of the first week of December and then finish at the first half of the second week. Olivia was being praised for her grades on the tests she did at the mid-term and others following the mid-term.

However, while she was able to focus on her tests, Olivia felt miserable without Basil. He had not returned from Norway and Mrs. Silverman had called his residence at Baker Street, but Mrs. Judson said he had not come back.

Many hours from now, the Guy Fawkes masque ball would begin once the sun would begin to set and Olivia saw the sun set earlier than usual. She did part take in some of the All Hallows Eve festivities, especially in telling spooky stories like "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow", poems of Edgar Allen Poe, and many other stories.

After eating breakfast, she went to her first class for the day. Her mind went blank for a few minutes and looks out the window. The day was misty and the autumn rains continued to come down. It did remind her of the misty hills of Scotland.

Olivia observes the campus grounds, a few people and mice were walking around. However, she notices one mouse looking at her, at least she thought so. She observes the mouse, an elderly female mouse, much older than Mrs. Silverman. Her face had many wrinkles, but then Olivia notices the rat tail.

"Miss Flaversham?" the teacher asks and Olivia turns to face her instructor. "Can you read the passage on page 311?" the teacher asks and Olivia looks at her book. After she reads the passage, she looks back out the window, but the rat woman was gone.

The day went on as usual, but Olivia couldn't help but feel disturbed by the rat woman's presence. She remembered Rosenberg saying his mother was also the mother to Raitgan, but was there a possibility that she was alive? She decided to go to the library's newspaper archives, wondering if she could find answers.

She locates some clippings that featured Detective Henry Walker, Basil's mentor. She finds a clipping dating back to 1882, when Basil would've been 11 and she reads it over. The body of a rat woman was found buried under rubble after Walker was pursuing her, but at the time, she was calling herself Ilse Altendorf. Olivia wonders if this Ilse Ratigan-Rosenberg.

Olivia reads more of the news stories and was shocked to discover that Ilse was suspected of poisoning multiple husbands and taking their money. Olivia wouldn't be surprised if she also poisoned both Ratigan and Rosenberg's fathers.

She goes back to the first clipping, it did say that police could not identify the body of the rat woman as she was buried too deep and the structure had collapsed just before anyone could go and retrieve the body.

"Olivia?" a voice asks, but she lets out a startled gasp, her mind had blocked out the world. She was relieved to see Claudia. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you," her friend said and sits in a chair. "What are you doing?" she asks.

Olivia couldn't think of an excuse, so she decides to tell Claudia. "You read through the case on my father's murder? With Rosenberg?" she asks and Claudia nods. "Well, I want you to keep this secret, but Rosenberg said he was the half-brother of Professor Ratigan," Olivia adds and Claudia hushes.

"Were they really half-brothers?" Claudia asks and Olivia nods. She shows the clipping she found and Claudia reads it over. "But this says she was Ilse Altendorf," she said.

"Well what if she used a maiden name? Or an alias?" Olivia asks.

"Why are you interested in this?" Claudia replies. Olivia looks behind her friend and around the room.

"You'll probably think I'm paranoid, but when I was in my Law in Society class, I noticed a rat woman outside and I thought she was looking right at me," Olivia replies and Claudia scratches her chin. "It's okay you don't have to believe me," she adds, but Claudia shakes her head.

"No, I believe you," she replies and Olivia looks at her in surprise. "Olivia, you survived Ratigan's attempt to kill you and Mr. Bas...I mean your fiance. And then, Rosenberg tries to kill both of you. I mean, look here," Claudia points to the sentence about the inability to recover the rat woman's body. "That could've been a set up and I did read that both Ratigan and Rosenberg are good in creating set-ups. So, this Ilse Altendorf or their mother is or maybe was good at setting up a scene to throw the police off. She might be waiting to extract her revenge for the deaths of her sons and the collapse of their criminal empire," she finishes.

"I forgot that you read a lot of newspaper when you were little," Olivia replies and her friend places a hand on her shoulder.

"If you see that rat woman again, you tell Mrs. Silverman or someone you trust and they'll try to locate her. I have a feeling that she's an unwanted guest," Claudia said and Olivia nods.

"You promise not to tell anyone about the family connection?" she asks and Claudia uses two fingers and slides them over her lips, indicating that 'her lips are sealed'.

"So, are you excited for tomorrow?" Claudia asks as they exit the library.

"I don't know, I haven't heard from Elliott since he left for Norway," Olivia replies, but Claudia fishes out a newspaper from outside the campus. The headline reads: FAMOUS MOUSE DETECTIVE SOLVES VIKING MYSTERY

Olivia reads it over; Basil, Dawson, and Pedersen were captured by the criminal thief Isak Svedsen, who was notorious for stealing rare artifacts and selling them on the black market. Svendsen had forced Basil to lead him to a monolith which was dedicated to a female Viking mouse who wrote various accounts of the Viking culture.

She skips down to see that Basil survived the ordeal and that Pedersen would stay in Norway, so he and his colleagues could translate the manuscript Basil recovered from inside the monolith. To Olivia's shock, he was forced inside the chamber where the skeleton of the Lady of Whispers was resting.

"Oh my!" Olivia gasps.

"I know, your fiance came face to face with a skeleton, how crazy is that?" Claudia asks and they chuckle, but then Olivia gives a sad sigh. "It's okay, I'm sure he'll show up. Maybe he wants to surprise you. That's the point of a masque ball, trying to guess someone's identity," Claudia adds and it did cheer Olivia up a bit.

"You're right, but I wonder if I'll be find him," she replies and they go back to their dorm rooms, eagerly waiting for the 5th of November to come.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Basil awoke many hours later, his body still felt achy and he still felt exhausted. Then, Mrs. Judson enters his room, "Mr. Basil, are you all right?" she asks.

"I am all right, how long was I out?" he replies.

"Over 24 hours, it's the 5th," the housekeeper answers and Basil looks at the calendar, it hadn't changed from October and flips it to show the correct month.

"The 5th of November?! It's Guy Fawkes Day! The ball is tonight!" he exclaims, but Mrs. Judson forces him down.

"Now hold on, Mr. Basil, let me have Dr. Dawson check on you," she insists and fetches Dawson. The doctor takes Basil's temperature and checks other symptoms.

"You might have a viral infection, we were unprepared when we went to Norway," Dawson replies after finishing examining Basil.

"But I feel fine," Basil insists and stands up on his feet, but the muscles in his legs were hurting.

"I don't know Basil, maybe you should stay home and-" "I'm not going to miss out on this ball!" Basil shouts at his partner, but his chest wall was also hurting. He fights the pain, he had been away from Olivia for far too long and tonight he wanted to dance and laugh with her.

He checks the clock in his room, it was 8 in the morning, a few hours until the ball, but he thought it best to go to Mrs. Silverman's home and change into his costume there.

Mrs. Judson retrieves the costume she created for him. He looks it over, it was like a tuxedo, with a deep red color with a matching cape. The mask was also the color of deep red and he tries the costume on.

It fit him and he was very pleased with what Mrs. Hudson did. She then reveals a hat with deep red feathers. "Need to conceal your identity," Mrs. Judson said and he nods.

He removes the costume and notices the heat in his cheeks. He choose to ignore this sickness, he didn't want to miss out on the ball. It was a few hours away, so the illness might go away by then.

A few hours had passed, but Basil's temperature rose a bit. "Basil, I insist you stay in bed," Dawson pleads, but the detective refuses to listen to his partner. He dresses in his regular clothes and takes the costume. He then leaves for Mrs. Silverman's home.

The journey to Mrs. Silverman's felt like it took an eternity, but the trolley arrives at the campus just as the sun was setting to set on the horizon. Basil notices some children dressed in costumes running around and asking passerby's, "Penny for the Guy?"

Basil had a few coins and gave it to the children who asked for them. He sees that both humans and mice were dressed in various costumes and they were walking towards the campus's grand hall.

He knocks on the door of Mrs. Silverman's house and the teacher answers. "Oh my! Mr. Basil!" she exclaims, "Come in!" she adds and lets him inside. "Olivia was concerned about you, when did you get back?" she asks.

"Last night after midnight," he replies, but his chest was still hurting.

"Well, the campus gates are open, you can head on over if you like," Mrs. Silverman said and he nods. He goes into the guest bedroom and dresses in the costume, again. He places the mask over his face and the hat on his head. He thinks for a minute, he read Dracula some time ago and he believed that the vampire would wear the same costume if he was invited to a ball.

He looks out the window, the sun was half-way down and the street was filled with spectators. Many children were setting off firecrackers and some dummies were lit. He could hear singing and laughter, and he feels at ease.

Basil leaves the room and notices Mrs. Silverman outside, playing with the children on the street and he decides to slip away, wondering if she would notice that he went to the ball.

Meanwhile, Olivia was dressed in her red and gold hood and gown, with her golden mask. She was looking forward to finding Basil and she walks to the grand hall for the mice. It was full of masked party-goers and she thought she recognized a few of her classmates based on their voices.

She walks around and watches the mice dancing. She was mesmerized by the many couples who were dancing. "Do you want a dance?" a male mouse wearing a fish costume asks. Olivia didn't recognizes him, but Basil would never wear something ridiculous. She refuses the offer and the mouse walks away.

Basil finds himself in the grand hall where he saw many party-goers were dancing and laughing. He suddenly felt dizzy by the bright lights, but he fought the oncoming headache.

Now his big question was where Olivia could be. Mrs. Hudson didn't tell either one of what they were wearing, so it would be difficult to know what costume Olivia had on. However, he remembers Hiriam's words, "As long as there's love between you, you will find each other in unexpected places."

Olivia had been approached by many male mice, but she rejected them. She wasn't feeling happy anymore, she decided to cut her losses and head back to her dorm room.

Basil then feels a familiar presence with the woman mouse wearing a red and gold gown with a hood and gloves. He quickly rushes after her, but the pain in his head was intensifying. "I'm not...going to lose...you...not tonight..." he said to himself, but he was hoping Olivia would hear.

Olivia was about to head to the door of the grand hall, but she stops when she feels a sense inside her. Something was urging her to turn around and so she did. There in front was a tall male mouse, wearing a deep red tux with a feathered hat and mask. They look at one another and she walks up to him.

"Do you want a dance miss?" Basil asks, holding out his hand and she nods. He escorts her to the dance floor, where the musicians were playing a soft love melody for the "lovers out there".

Both Basil and Olivia take positions, placing their hands of where they should be and begin to waltz with the other couples. Olivia stares into the mouse's eyes, they were Basil's emerald green eyes and he looks into her soft blue ones.

The dance continued and Olivia rests her head on Basil's chest, she felt safe in his arms. Basil's body was burning, but he fought hard, he didn't want to ruin this wondrous moment between them.

The music then quiets and the dancing stops. The spectators clapped and cheered as the musicians took a moment to recuperate. Olivia notices Basil didn't seem to have his footing and she quickly takes him away.

She settles him on a chair and checks his pulse, it was beating hard. "Let's go get you some air," Olivia insists and they walk outside in the chilly night. The cool air felt good to Basil, but his body was hurting.

"Elliott?" Olivia asks and he looks at her with fevered eyes. "Come on, let's go to Mrs. Silverman's," she said and helping him to his feet.

"What...no...this..." Basil struggles to say a few words, but Olivia knew he wasn't feeling well. She takes one arm and has him lean against her as she makes the trek across the campus grounds towards Mrs. Silverman's.

The sun had set about an hour ago and it was dark, but a lot of bonfires were lit, so there was enough light for them. Olivia makes it to Mrs. Silverman's stoop and she bangs on the door.

"Mrs. Silverman!" she calls out. The teacher opens to the door to see Olivia carrying Basil on her shoulders.

"Oh my dear! What happened?!" Mrs. Silverman exclaims and helps them inside. They take Basil to the bedroom and remove his costume, heat escaped from Basil's body and Olivia removes his mask and touches his forehead.

"Elliott! You've got a terrible fever!" she cries and turns to Mrs. Silverman, "Please, call Dr. Dawson, he lives with Elliott at Baker Street," she pleads and the teacher hurries out of the room. Olivia hears the teacher on the telephone, begging for Dawson to come as quickly as possible.

Olivia removes her mask and fetches some cold water and a cloth. She places Basil on the bed, his head resting on the pillow and she places the cold cloth on his head. He shivers, but it was a sign that he could still feel the cold.

Olivia helps him in his night clothes and wraps him in blankets. The one thing she had to do was to keep Basil hydrated and she fetches some water. He drinks some of it, but she feels his body shaking.

Some time had passed and Dawson arrives at the house. Mrs. Silverman shows the doctor his patient, his own partner. "Oh Basil, you stubborn fool!" Dawson exclaims and opens his medical bag.

He takes Basil's temperature, it had risen significantly and he takes out a bottle and a syringe. Olivia didn't see what the label said, so she asks, "What is that?"

"It's an antitoxin, Basil has a viral infection, so this will help him fight it," Dawson replies, filling the syringe and inserts it in Basil's arm.

"Viral infection?" Olivia asks, "What happened in Norway?"

"The weather up there took us by surprise, but I'm thinking he caught something while in the tomb," Dawson answers and Olivia recalls the story of Basil going into the chamber where he found the skeleton of the Lady of Whispers.

Dawson checks Basil's pupils, they reacted to the light from the oil lantern. "The best thing to do now is wait," the doctor said and looks at Olivia.

"I'll keep watch," she said and Dawson and Mrs. Silverman leave the room. Olivia listens as they walk down the hall and she removes her costume, revealing her undergarments. She also discards them and removes Basil's night shirt. He was shivering hard.

Olivia read that another's body heat could help reduce the shivering and maintain the sick one's body heat. She gets under the sheets with him and holds him in her arms.

"Elliott, you are so stupid," she begins to cry. The detective had put his health at great risk and made it worse by coming to the ball. Basil could hear Olivia crying, but he didn't have the strength to comfort her. The antitoxin was fighting the virus within him, which made him sleepy. He relaxes in Olivia's arms and was asleep within moments.

Basil wakes up in his chair at his home on Baker Street. He notices himself, but he was ten years younger and the present Basil knew he was dreaming. He watches himself place Ratigan's bell on the mantle where he kept mementos of the criminal mastermind. It was at that time that he felt relief for his mentor, Henry Walker and his family.

The former detective and his family were avenged with the death of Ratigan. The present Basil watches his young bid farewell to the young Olivia and her father. "No..." he said, "Don't leave," he pleads, but his young self lets her go. The young Basil sniffles as Olivia walks out the door.

The present Basil rushes after them, but they were gone. "It's all right Elliott," Basil turns to see Hiriam, but Olivia was not with him. Basil was with Hiriam's ghost, again and the toy maker shakes his head.

"You know, you can't help Olivia if you don't got your health," Hiriam said and Basil nods.

"I know, but I didn't want to back out on a promise I made," the detective replies. Hiriam looks at him and he sniffles a little.

"Sometimes you can't keep some promises," Hiriam said, but adds, "I am grateful that you want to spend every waking moment with Olivia. That's what I want for her, a husband she can rely on."

"How do I explain myself? Dawson's right, I am stubborn," Basil asks, but Hiriam chuckles a little.

"Yes, a stubborn fool who's in love. You know, I did some silly things for Olivia's mother before our little girl was born," he said and places a cool hand on the detective's shoulder.

"I will take this illness from you, but I'm afraid this will be the only time. Elliott, please take care of yourself if you want to care for Olivia," Hiriam said and Basil could feel some heat leaving him.

Then, the dream was about to end, but Basil looks at Hiriam, "It's going to all right. I'll be here," he said and was gone.

Basil wakes up, sweat was streaming down his forehead, but the heat in his cheeks was down. He then notices Olivia, her arms still around him, but she was asleep on his chest.

The detective decides to not disturb her and would wait until morning. He then feels a sense of serenity and falls asleep, again.


From the author: I feel bad for treating Basil like this, but Olivia is there for him to help him recover from the sickness. Hiriam did take away the illness, so he deserves the praise, but his daughter does too.

I do have a belief in the supernatural, so it might explain the reason Hiriam is a ghost here. Anyway, we're getting close to the wedding, but there's one more special day to celebrate before that.

Keep the mysterious rat woman in mind, she might pop up sometime in the future. See you soon!